During the NBA Draft, Tennessee’s Jahmai Mashack was selected with the final pick by the Memphis Grizzlies. Technically, the pick belonged to the Houston Rockets, but the Grizzlies acquired his draft rights. Mashack expressed excitement about being drafted by Memphis and is already eager to show his grit.
“It's something that I've always done. It's not something that a coach asked me to do and I decided to buy into that. It's something that I've been doing since I was 12, 13, 14 years old when I told my dad that I want to become a great basketball player. He sat me down and he told me, it's not going to be through making the most points or having the flashiest passes or looking at highlights, it's going to be being the hardest working dog that you can be. I've embraced that ever since I was in high school and college and I don't plan on doing nothing different now,” Mashack said.
Known as one of the best defenders in college basketball, Mashack has even been praised by The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, who believes Mashack might be the best defender in the world.
“Mashack was the best defensive player in college basketball this year,” Vecenie wrote. “And might be one of the best perimeter defenders on the planet right now. This is not an exaggeration.”
However, the Tennessee product may not actually play in Memphis, as he was included in the record-breaking seven-team trade on Sunday, which sent him to the Golden State Warriors. While Mashack is technically now a part of the Warriors, Golden State has the final say on whether the draft-night trade is completed.
“This doesn’t mean Mashack is necessarily headed out to San Francisco, though. His mother, Meika Mashack, clarified that the plan is still for the trade to go through to keep him in the Volunteer State with Memphis. He just needs to wait for the initial draft night trade to go through, now in the hands of the Warriors,” Rocky Top Insider’s Ryan Sylvia wrote.
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The unprecedented seven-team trade has made Mashack’s situation one of the most confusing. The uncertainty is also preventing him from participating in the Summer League.